Big Government

We've already noted the dire news about federal deficits and the national debt. But buried in that ocean of red ink are the stunning figures on the interest payments future American taxpayers will have to make on the debt we run up today:

The president's declaration of a "national emergency" to spur construction of roughly 200 miles of physical wall along the U.S.-Maeico border has generated a lot of commentary, and plenty of threats of legal action. How might the courts look upon this emergency declaration? Prof.

Congressional negotiators believe they have an agreement in principle to keep the federal government open and expand border security. The agreement does not provide all the funds the president wants for a physical wall, which has some of his supporters upset. What's in the agreement?

One thing that did not occur in the president's State of the Union address was a declaration of a national emergency along the southern border. President Trump has considered the option in the face of congressional opposition to his request for a border wall. While that option may still be on the table, something else to consider is just how many "national emergencies" are currently active.

With the partial government shutdown now more than a month old, official Washington increasingly wonder whether and how things will get back to normal. But as we have written before, shutdowns can be instructive, if we remove the hysteria from them.